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When I grow up, I want to be a…

13th March 2015

Kids career choices remain traditional – with a twist

A career may be the last thing on the mind of most 5 year olds, but that certainly doesn’t stop them dressing up in what they imagine they might be when they grow up. Our
latest research where we asked over 1000 children, aged 10 and under, what they wanted to be when they grow up, has thrown up some intriguing results, showing that this fun form of child play still sees kids taking on the usual traditional roles, but also that many are being influenced by a more modern 21st Century take.

The 18,500 storytelling photographs we create in a year gives us a really good feel for these trends and reveals the top five most sought-after jobs for girls and boys are:

Boys

Superhero (25%)

Soldier (12%)

Chef (10%)

Pirate (8%)

Scientist (5%)

Other (40%)

Girls

Princess (21%)

Singer (18%)

Superhero (15%)

Soldier (6%)

Farmer (5%)

Other (35%)

“Our research was inspired by the thousands of kids that we photograph every year, who turn up dressed in the most fabulous range of fancy dress costumes,” says Richard Mayfield, Creative Director at Venture Studios. “The results are interesting, as although our number one role model, the Princess, is a traditional fantasy for little girls, we’re actually seeing a more feisty, interesting type of Princess character appear. Probably in part due to the popularity of newer Disney princesses like Frozen’s Elsa and Brave’s Princess Merida.”

The results also shows more girls dressing up as soldiers, with an increasing number of boys donning a chef’s hat to create gourmet meals in the kitchen – likely to have been influenced by the plethora of celebrity chefs on TV and in the media.

Sarah Morris, mother of two, said: “My children appear to adhere to traditional gender views when it comes to their ideas of what they want to be when they grow up – my little girl is keen to be a princess and my son a superhero – but actually, the princess costume is often accompanied by her brother’s pirate sword and hat. My modern princess was beautifully captured by the photographer at Venture, who really told the story in a beautiful, fun and quirky way.”

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